


the 1

by NicNack4U



Series: SPN Season 15 Codas [26]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Album: folklore (Taylor Swift), Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alcoholic Dean Winchester, Case Fic, Dean Winchester Gets Better, Domestic Bliss, Episode Fix-It: s15e20 Carry On, F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt Dean Winchester, M/M, Post-Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, Recovering Alcoholic Dean Winchester, Reunions, Self-Hating Dean Winchester, Song: the 1 (Taylor Swift), Spoilers for Episode: s15e20 Carry On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28166226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicNack4U/pseuds/NicNack4U
Summary: "And if my wishes came trueIt would've been youIn my defense, I have noneFor never leaving well enough aloneBut it would've been funIf you would've been the one." - "the 1", Taylor Swift (album: folklore).
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Series: SPN Season 15 Codas [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549549
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	the 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys. I've been feeling so drained and "blah" ever since e19 & e20 aired. Couldn't find the motivation or inspiration to write. But, this year's (thankfully!!!) almost over & I need to get my butt in gear & friggin' WRITE THESE CODAS, DANG IT.
> 
> So, here's me forcing a few words outta myself in hopes that the final product looks at least halfway good. 
> 
> I really hope you guys like it. :)
> 
> Btw, FUCK 2020!!! Here's hoping 2021 is better. Fingers crossed! 
> 
> Also, TEAM JOE & KAMALA, ALL THE WAY!!!

See, before Cas's confession, Dean had _no friggin' idea_ that the angel was in love with him. There were hints over the years that made him wonder, though. The stares, the whole "profound bond" thing, the knowing looks Sam threw his way. The jokes from their frenemies and the big bads they fought. 

But Dean had no idea angels could really fall in love. Especially with a human. Especially with a human like Dean. All that stuff Cas had said to Dean about how he saw himself as their enemies saw him. Angry, destructive, Daddy's blunt instrument. 

And then all those lovely things Cas had said to him right after...

Maybe, just maybe he could clean up his shit and start seeing himself the way Cas saw him. It was gonna be hard to quit drinking - or, at least, quit drinking as much as he had been ever since Cas and Billie got swallowed up by the Empty. 

But, he would. He'd cut back to one, maybe two, a day. It's a start, at least. 

And when he sees Sam and Eileen in the kitchen, talking and laughing together while preparing some sort of new-age-y vegan, health crap, he only feels a slight pang of jealousy at their happiness. He mentally pats himself on the back for only feeling a small bit of the green monster inside him. 

He smiles slightly, but genuinely, when Sam gives him a proud smile and Eileen gives him two literal thumbs up for throwing out the empty beer and whiskey bottles. They congratulate him when he announces that he's trying to kinda-sorta, slowly quit drinking. 

Sam stomps his big moose feet over to him and wraps his huge arms around him, and he swears Sammy's cutting off his airflow, but he returns the hug anyway. When they part, they exchange a few quick brotherly smacks on their backs. 

Sam moves aside so that Eileen could hug Dean next. They both then twist his arm into at least _trying_ their healthy food. 

Which, okay, yeah. He was trying to experience new things, after all. Trying to llve a better life, now that Chuck wasn't pulling their strings anymore.

Trying. Trying to live to make Cas proud of him. 

Trying. 

* * *

Two words: Pie festival. Pie. Festival. _Pie Festival!!!_

Okay, so they were really there because they'd found another case. One that they all swore to each other would be their very last. 

There were other hunters who could handle the remaining creepy crawlies, after all. 

At first, when Dean suggested this last hunt, Sam had emphatically and vehemently refused, on the grounds that Chuck wasn't running the show anymore, _they_ were. 

"But, don't you see, Sam?" Eileen pointed out to him gently. "Chuck no longer being God is exactly why we should do one last hunt. Because we're hunting and fighting, and saving lives, on _our_ terms, not his. We'd be saving lives for saving lives' sake, and not just because it amuses Chuck."

Dean smiles teasingly at them both and winks at who he hopes is his future sister-in-law. "Thank you, Eileen. See, Sammy? She gets it."

Sam alternates between pulling a face at his older brother and shooting Eileen worried glances. "I'm just worried, and you know why. We have no angels or higher-ups who would swoop in to save us in case this backfires on us. If we die, we die forever this time. No more re-dos, no more resurrections. Once it's game over for us, that's it." 

"Sheesh, don't get your panties in a wad, Sammy," Dean tried to brush Sam's worries (and admittedly, his own, but no one but himself needed to know) with his usual facade of joking. 

He knew, of course, that the other two saw right through him. Hey, can't blame a guy for trying and all that. 

Dean shrugs when Sam throws another exasperated look his way. Eileen looked on, amused. Used to the siblings bickering by now. 

"So," she says slowly with a knowing look aimed at both men. "Texas?"

"Texas," they reply. 

* * *

On the way there, Dean tries not to let the jealousy twist in his stomach too much as he keeps glancing in the mirror every once in a while at Sam and Eileen as they sit together in Baby's backseat, giggling together at something on Sam's phone. 

He wishes they were somewhere close by that had a wishing well. Because the one wish he had was for Cas to come back to him. To see what they could've been together. 

He thinks they'd be like Sammy and Eileen: so sappily, goofily in love. The kind of love that made others want to giggle and cringe, and shout, "Get a room, you two! You're giving the rest of us cavities from your cutesy lovefest!" 

Or, maybe they'd still just be Dean and Castiel, with the added bonus of their feelings out in the open and acknowledged, never to be shoved back into the closet again. 

He thinks both scenarios are plausible. Possible. If only they knew. If only they had the time to explore their feelings for each other. 

Cas could've been the one for him, maybe. If he were still here. 

Dean wishes he had a wishing well. Not that the last time he was around one of those was any good. And, wow, that was - what? Fifteen years ago? But, anyway. Even so, Dean still wishes he had a wishing well. He thinks maybe Cas could've been the one for him. 

He tries to shake off his thoughts by sticking a cassette tape into the deck at high volume, just to not hear himself think more so than the actual enjoyment of the music. Music meant nothing to him now. Music was nothing without Cas there to enjoy it with him. 

He pretends to ignore the worried glances Sam and Eileen give him and each other. 

* * *

When they get to Texas, the first thing they do is check into a motel room and change into their FBI monkey suits, complete with fake badge, of course. Sam had one made for Eileen just before they left Kansas and even helped her pack one of the few formal outfits she owned. Just a simple white tee and black blazer with white pants. 

They then go back out and do their usual thing: Scoping the place out and asking civilians their questions. They get a few answers, but that only leads to more questions of their own. 

It's Sam who suggests they look through John's journal, because he says he saw something in John's journal. A symbol they had come across while doing their super sleuthing. 

Which then leads them to vampire mimes. Or, vamp-mimes, as Dean calls them, much to Sam's exasperation and Eileen's amusement. They share a pie at the pie festival and talk more about their lost loved ones. Dean didn't want Cas's sacrifice to be in vain, so he left it at that and filled in a few job applications for firefighting, cooking in a kitchen at a restaurant, a garage. He had piles more of job apps back home at the bunker, just waiting to be filled. But, Dean wasn't in the right state of mind to fill them just yet, then. And now, now that he was ready to finally live his life on his own terms, for himself and Cas, he was ready to start job hunting. 

Time to start living life as an average joe, once this case was over.

Things only get simultaneously weirder and more stressful from the vamp-mimes case. Weird, because unlike other normal vamps (and Dean was disappointed and disgusted to find out that the vamp-mimes were just regular vamps wearing mime masks), these ones were biting their victims. Not biting them to turn then. No. Eating them. 

Sort of, anyway. Dean's a little fuzzy on the details because this case is weirder than their usual brand of weird. 

It gets worse when the children of the vamps' victims are thrown into the mix and are hiding in their bedroom closet. 

They quickly get the whole family out in just the nick of time. But then, they end up in a barn with a whole nest of the bloodsuckers there. 

And Jenny from years back was there, too. What the Hell was going on here?! 

A fight soon breaks out amongst him, Sam and Eileen versus the vamp nest. It looked like they were winning. But, then, their almost victory was cut short by a shocking swerve.

Dean was pushed backwards onto a rebar, the bar and a rusty nail plunging through him. 

It hurt. He was in shock and could hardly breathe. He could feel himself fading fast, so he had to say his goodbyes. Now. 

"Wow," Dean exhaled half-amused, half-disbelieving. "I always knew it'd end like this. But, I didn't think it'd be so soon."

"No," Sam shook his head. "Nononono, no. It's - it's okay, Dean. You're," he chokes out. "You're gonna be okay."

Eileen stares on in shock, her hand covering her mouth as her head shook. She shakily takes out her phone and goes to dial for help when Dean speaks again. 

"You - you wanna know somethin' funny, Sammy?" Dean chuckles sadly. 

"No," Sam interrupts him. "Don't do this right now, man. We're gonna get you outta here, and then you can tell me whatever it is, okay?"

Dean shook his head. "No," he gasps. "I need - I need to tell you now, I'm - I'm fading pretty fast here, Sammy. When - when you were still in school, and I came to your dorm to tell you Dad was missing, I stood outside your dorm for what must've been hours. Because I was worried you'd yell at me, or tell me to get lost and never show my face around you ever again." 

All three share a wet chuckle at that.

"But then," Dean continues. "You believed me. You drove with me, all across the country to find Dad and do what we have always done best ever since then. Saving people, hunting things." 

He shares a nostalgic grin with his brother as he goes on. "And... well. This is it, this is the end. I'm goin' out like I always knew I would."

Sam sniffs. Eileen also cries as she rubs soothing circles into his back. 

Dean smiles. "Hey, hey. Promise me, Sam. Promise me you two will keep hunting. Get married, you two. It's about freakin' time." 

He ignores their blushes. "Have kids. Retire. Get normal jobs. Go on and live your life." 

Sam chokes out a sob as he nods. Eileen tries to smile and nod, too. She was still rubbing Sam's back. "Y-yeah. Okay. Okay, Dean." 

Eileen smiles. "I'll make sure it all happens. Promise." 

Dean smiles, then sucks in a sharp breath of pain. "Okay. Okay, this is it. Bye, Sammy. Eileen. I love you guys. Remember that." 

But then the barn door is slammed open and they are shocked to see Jack and Castiel. 

They are too surprised to speak. 

"No," Cas growls out while stomping his way to Dean. He snaps his fingers and Dean is suddenly unstuck from the nail and the bar. 

There are no signs of his previous injury. 

"Cas," Dean, Sam and Eileen breathe out. 

"Cas," Dean repeated himself. He throws his arms around Cas's neck and pulls him into a hug. 

Jack shares a smile with Sam and Eileen. He then snaps the remaining vampires away.

Snaps his fingers again and they are back at the bunker. 

Dean blinks. "What the Hell, Cas? How are you able to do that? And where's Baby?" 

So, according to both his angel and their kid, Cas is now an archangel, thanks to Jack's new God powers. 

Also thanks to Jack's acts as the new God, the Empty got so annoyed by Jack and Castiel constantly bothering it, it spat Cas and the other angels and some of their favorite demons back out. In return and as thanks, Jack told it to keep Lucifer and Chuck, when it was Chuck's time to pass on.

After that, Jack asked Cas to go to Heaven with him to rebuild and reform it. 

"It's no longer as it once was," Cas hurried to explain. "We tore all the walls between the worlds down. Everyone can roam freely in Heaven. They're free to live their afterlife however they like. I..." 

He looked down, then shyly looked back up. 

"I did it for you, Dean. In your honor." 

They both ignored the cooing and teasing from the other three as Dean initiated his and Cas's first kiss. 

* * *

They retired from hunting, officially. Jack fixed the big issues of the three humans still being legally dead. 

Which meant that they could now legally get actual jobs! Awesome. 

Dean soon got hired on as a mechanic, with a part-time cooking job on the side. 

He and Cas officially started dating after that last hunt. No more denials or pining. No more time to waste. 

And, Dean ended up being right. He and Cas are that sickeningly sweet couple. Pet names and all. 

Sam relentlessly teases them for it. Eileen tells him to stop but giggles anyway and even gets in on the joking. Dean rolls his eyes, but they all know he loves the teasing. 

Sam goes back to school via online classes.

Eileen also gets her online degree. 

She teaches ASL while Sam goes off to do whatever it is that big, hotshot lawyers do. 

Eileen is successful, as is Sam. He wins every court case. 

Well, he did have Stanford 1.0. and the Trials back during Apocalypse 1.0. to thank. 

Jack and all their hunter friends join them for dinner during the weekend. 

A month later, Sam tells Dean and Cas he's gonna ask Eileen to marry him.

When he does ask, she, of course, says yes. 

A month after that, apparently both Cas and Dean had the idea to pop the question to each other without the other knowing. 

A week later, both couples got married in a shared wedding, with only their close friends in attendance. 

Word is that Chuck tried to stop it, but no one seems to be able to officially confirm that rumor. 

A year passes. Sam and Eileen have a baby boy named Robert Jim Winchester, named after Sam and Dean's surrogate father Bobby, and Pastor Jim. 

And in all that time, Dean and Cas are more in love than ever before. 

Cas sometimes helps Dean at the mechanic shop. Most of the time, he tends to his garden out back and his beekeep. 

Dean complains about the bees, but compliments his husband every time Cas brings the honey in jars. 

Cas took out most of his grace to live as a human with his husband and their family. He wears it in a necklace that he hardly ever takes off. 

It was all normal now. And yeah, it felt weird at first, but they all got used to it even though they all still woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares. 

PTSD is a bitch. 

Sam took all of them to talk to the shape-shifting psychiatrist Mia Vallens. 

Dean's grateful. It doesn't fix things, but it helps to talk to someone who gets it. 

Also, Dean still has Miracle. He seems to favor Cas the most. 

"Only because you spoil him with the scraps on your plate," Dean playfully shoots back at his husband when Cas loves to tease him about it. 

Cas can only laugh in response. 

Dean falls more in love with him. 


End file.
